Daddy Joe's Beach House BBQ & Grill in Gaffney, SC - Review

Daddy Joe's Beach House BBQ and Grill

My son and I were headed to the Brenau University BBQ festival when we saw the road signs for Daddy Joe's Beach House BBQ & Grill in Gaffney, South Carolina. What should you eat on the way to a barbecue bash? Well . . . barbecue of course.

Daddy Joe's is right off I85 (about a mile off the exit). You'll see the billboards, and it's close the big peach shaped and painted water tower which is darn hard to miss.

The name is kind of confusing, because trust me, you are not near the beach in Gaffney, although you kind of get that feel at Daddy Joe's sans the ocean.

Ceiling at Daddy Joe's BBQ Restaurant

Daddy Joe's has that cool factor but not over the top so that it feels fake. We ate inside below this fan you see in the photo above (plus AC - so I was almost chilly). They had outdoor seating too. But, it was in the 90s, so we decided not to melt on the porch, although it did look like a fun place to have a meal.

They had a pretty meaty menu. In fact, I could not find the sides. The waitress showed me the single line with sides. I would not be sending my vegetarian friends to Daddy Joe's, but I don't have many veggie buddies. I live in a real small Southern town, and I suspect the vegetarians just give up and move to cities.

Guys Having a Meat Mosh at Daddy Joe's Gaffney, SC

We went for the pork, since that's the big deal meat here in the piedmont of North Carolina (and since I write about BBQ). That puts some pressure on a BBQ joint outside the area, since we have top notch chopped pork all around us here. I don't mention that I blog though, so that's neither here nor there. I'm just the odd woman that pulls out her camera and shoots her food before diving in.

Chopped Pork Platter at Daddy Joe's BBQ & Grill

First, I'll speak to the pork. Oink. It was excellent. Nice smoke flavor. It was lightly sauced with a western North Carolina style barbecue sauce (vinegar with a little red and body). South Carolina is kind of all over the place on sauces. You might get vinegar or mustard or thick Kansas style. Good thing to ask if you have a preference. The kitchen sauce and table sauce were both NC vinegar with some tomato, so I felt right at home.

The hush puppies were the sweet kind I like. Some people will tell you that real Southern cornbread products don't have any sugar. Well, shut my mouth. That just ain't true. My Grandma put sugar in hers, and she's now gone, but no one can tell me she wasn't a darn fine Southern cook. My family does about 1 tablespoon of sugar to a 12 inch pone of cornbread in cast iron. Not very sweet - but a tickle of it. These hushpuppies were a little north of that but not like those box mixes where you get corn cake or some sort that tastes nothing of corn or anything else known to man or woman. So, to cut to the chase, those were some rocking hush puppies.

They put my slaw on the side by request as I'm just not a slaw fan. I know my Southern card may get revoked for telling that. Raw cabbage in gunk just doesn't do it for me. I did taste the slaw which was red which made me think it was a vinegar BBQ sauce based slaw which I can tolerate better than mayo based ones. Wrong on that. This slaw was rather dry. I think I could jam it in a red Solo cup and make sandcastles. Also, it was very sweet. All I can think of to describe the slaw is finely chopped cabbage with a Kraft sauce like honey style stirred in lightly. Sweet sand comes to mind. Remember though that I'm not a slaw fan. I'm sure lots of people love the slaw at Daddy Joe's. Me? Just pass the vinegar sauce, and I'm good.

I was surprised to find really good chopped pork barbecue outside of North Carolina, but Daddy Joe's was excellent. The ribs and kielbalsa looked good too. Yes. I peaked at the table next to us. I'd certainly stop here again. Great food and service and an easy stop on a road trip off I85.